Commonly, law enforcement operations have a fixed set of assets which operate independently. Although some of the assets generate information vital to successful law enforcement operations, it is desirable to provide even more information to enhance performance and efficiency or improve the safety of officers. Systems according to the invention not only generate more useful information, but also make that information more broadly available in an optimal manner with the goal of providing greater utility to members of the operation. Law enforcement operations would benefit from an ability to generate more situational information and make that information immediately available to all members of the operation who can potentially use the information to more effectively perform their line or supervisory duties. In many instances, officers are at risk for encountering unanticipated dangers which cannot be easily monitored and it is desirable to provide improved techniques for more comprehensive monitoring, more timely generation of alerts and improved command and control in these circumstances.
Many patrol officers spend a large percent of duty time in association with an assigned patrol vehicle. Typically, the patrol vehicle serves as a mobile center for enhanced communication, information acquisition, generation of GPS information and video monitoring. However, when the officer steps out of a patrol vehicle far fewer resources are at hand. In addition, many officers never have access to a vehicle, such as those assigned to crowd control or SWAT, and officers patrolling on bicycles, walking a beat or performing undercover activities. An officer normally carries only a service radio, which is a primary means of voice communications, a pager and perhaps a personal or department owned mobile telephone. Thus, from the standpoint of safety, it is understandable that officers should feel most secure when inside a vehicle rather than when performing duties outside of the vehicle. Yet, much police work is done on foot and away from a vehicle.
Responsive to a need to provide and share more useful information in a timely manner, a novel system employs an integrated architecture of networked equipment and software operations with which officers can obtain timely information about other officers and personnel. In one embodiment, the information is displayed as text and graphic presentations, including use of icons and a variety of map views, which keep members of a group informed about, for example, the status of variable tactical dispositions of other members of the organization. The system also enables acquisition and display of proximity and directional awareness (e.g., distances and directions relative to other officers) and provides officers with rapid awareness of critical events such as the occurrence of gunfire in the presence of another officer. The system makes use of sensors to rapidly detect and alert members of the organization about life threatening incidents in the presence of one or more other members. This enables alerted members to quickly initiate the most rapid and informed responses possible. Another feature of the system is a distributed arrangement for secure collection and retention of information generated by members of an organization (e.g., law enforcement officers, a security force, militia or first responders), including time stamped notes and captured multimedia data. This and other information can be disseminated to other members of the organization immediately, can be later used for generating reports, and can be transferred to secure databases for preservation of legal evidence.